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UMD Wins CyberWatch Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The University of Maryland won the 6th annual CyberWatch Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MA CCDC) on Saturday, March 12, earning top honors and the opportunity to compete against the seven other university finalist teams in the National CCDC competition in San Antonio, TX, April 8-10, 2011.

The MA CCDC event, held at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL), in Laurel, Md., drew over 500 competitors, spectators and industry and government officials from the region. The event was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security and several industry sponsors, including Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, CSC, NetApp, Neustar, SAIC, Tenable Network Security, and CTI. Cybersecurity presentations were provided by experts in the field, including Dr. Ernest McDuffie of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), Alan Paller of the SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute, and Wende Peters of JHU APL.

Throughout the MA CCDC competition, a "Red Team" of over 25 hackers launched relentless attacks against the eight university teams who attempted to defend their networks. In the end, the University of Maryland team was the most successful in defending against the attacks.

The University of Maryland team that competed in the MA CCDC competition included seven undergraduate students: Drew Bailey, Justin Chen, Travis Finkenauer, Stephen McCarthy, Aaron Sanders, Nick Sinlock, and David Wasser; and one graduate student, Rose Kirby. The four additional members of the team that did not compete were Scott Tomaszewski, Josh Berenhaus, Josh Kamdjou, and Jesse Spears. All of the students are members of the University of Maryland Cybersecurity Club, a student organization with over 200 members, mostly from the Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments. The team was coached by Robert Maxwell of the University of Maryland's Office of Information Technology Security team. The Maryland Cybersecurity Club is supported by the Maryland Cybersecurity Center, and sponsored by SAIC, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, CSC, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Harris Corporation.

After winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional CCDC competition, the University of Maryland team will advance to compete against the seven other teams that emerge from regional semi-finals across the country in the National CCDC competition on April 8-10. The National CCDC is a three-day competition that focuses on the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing “commercial” network infrastructure, offering students the unique opportunity to test their knowledge in an operational environment. For more information about the competition, visit the National CCDC website.

A press release about the University of Maryland team's victory in the MA CCDC can be seen here.

The University of Maryland team's promotional video can be viewed here or below.